| Yes it is. And by 'it' I mean the use of 'Die Hard(ed)' as a verb. I'm not sure that I can tell you why it annoys me so much, only that every time Brent let it fly, I shuddered a little bit. But I quibble, and it turns out that I have come not to bury PvP this week, but to praise it. Because, lo' did Kurtz find a storyline that actually, sort of works, and lo' he has apparently discovered that low-key humor can be just as effective as Panda sex and people crashing through walls. What did I like? The first panel of Vent Sienna was good. I always like it when an artist can use body language to effectively convey a situation...and if you removed the dialogue bubbles from that panel I think it's still pretty clear that Brent is 'on a mission' and that Francis is having his patience tested by Brent. It's a nice clear and unusually dynamic set up for the strip. Then there are two panels; one in Vent Sienna and one in Grating Nerves that deserve special mention. I call them the 'appendage panels' and they are the sort of artistic departure that I would really like to see a lot more of from Kurtz. If you imagine the PvP strip as being shot by a camera, most of the shots are coming from a fair distance with a 3/4 angle. These are a little more 'hand held'   I also appreciate that Kurtz has focused on toes and fingers in these two panels; not traditionally his strongest suit. I would also praise the design of the 'through the grate' shot in Vent Sienna, although in most mediums when you use that sort of PoV, it generally indicates that an antagonist is viewing the characters through the grate...which is not the case here. (Unless it is being used to play up the paranoia of Brent, in which case, kudos.) In any case, as somebody who has been less than enthused, both by the recent one-offs, and by the plot lines dealing with Cole's family life...I'm pleased to see the strip return to what it does well; an ad-mixture of strange cultural references and office hi-jinks. Now, if you really want to please me, Kurtz...I hope the Germans have a devious plan... |
Friday, October 2
Grating On MY Nerves
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Perhaps "Die-Hard" as a verb annoys you because of "Joeing Is Half The Battle".
ReplyDeletehttp://www.pvponline.com/2009/08/11/joeing-is-half-the-battle/
I, on the other hand, enjoy the irony.
Maybe that's it, but mostly it just feels like it's trying to hard. We get that this is a Die Hard satire, there must be something he could use to sum up the situation that is more clever than the title of the movie.
ReplyDeleteAlso I forgot to mention in the main body that 'Grating Nerves' as a pun is almost as terrible as 'Vent Sienna' is clever.
I'm glad I wasn't the only one to immediately think of "Joeing Is Half The Battle".
ReplyDeleteAnd hey, an anticlimactic bit of exposition (Of the "Hey, you guys remember what just happened? I'm going to explain it to you as if you weren't there, for the audience" variety) as the Friday wrap-up. Oh well.
Yeah, I'm retro-actively withdrawing most of my praise in lieu of the lead-balloon Friday strip. Disappointing resolution to the storyline, static talking heads, lame punch-line.
ReplyDeleteIt's like Kurtz heard me complimenting him and immediately made every effort to make me look like a fool for doing so.
The art in Friday's strip is particularly disappointing and un-challenging.
ermm... ok try this. Open http://www.pvponline.com/2009/10/02/ende-gut-alles-gut/ in one tab or window. Open http://www.pvponline.com/2009/09/28/schaden-fraud/ in another tab or window. Quickly cycle back and forth between them. Notice anything?
ReplyDeleteI guess when I called the art 'un-challenging' I was understating it.
ReplyDeleteBoth strips also spend three panels building to non-existant punch lines.
I noticed Francis teleporting half way around the table and thought it looked kinda familiar...
ReplyDeleteI just want to say, Left 4 Dress is masterful. That is all.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. Great emotions and action in the art of every panel and Brett wearing a dress is just enough nonsense to almost make sense. I love it!
ReplyDeleteLooking back at the Bone Burglar, I get the impression of something reminiscent of Paul Southworth. Maybe he should do the art for the rest of this arc.
ReplyDeleteLeft 4 Dress - all that onomatopoeia in panel 2, and the bullet passes noiselessly through Cole's head. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteI never would have thought Skull has red blood. Whaddja know.
ReplyDeleteAnyway: another good strip (though not reaching Left 4 Dress level)...
Bite Club - It seems that Brent has grown some breasts to hold up the top of Jade's dress. It's amazing what trolls can dream up.
ReplyDeleteI do like the subtle changes to Francis' and Jade's faces, to highlight the transformation.
hmm... maybe there are cups built into the dress? But yeah - the faces are done well.
ReplyDeleteNo. I'm fairly certain that it's a result of Brent's suspected high estrogen count. It's what really keeps him from looking like his father. ;)
ReplyDeleteWow, a week of fairly solid comics and no writeup?
ReplyDeleteSolid is a subjective term.
ReplyDeleteUnremarkable is another.
@Dave's first post:
ReplyDeleteI can spot the following differences:
- The Sep 28 strip has a copyright line.
They told a story, were typically funny, and displayed some fun artwork. I'm not saying they were comic gold, and friday's strip was a little... meh, but overall it seemed to be a pretty good week.
ReplyDeleteThat's just it. I had thought about commenting, but when I reviewed the week, there was nothing that stood out. Nothing great or terrible.
ReplyDeleteMy observations were that the new antagonist is rudimentary at best. A one-dimensional personality with a two-dimensional, perspective-less body.
Considering that the entire arc was (start-to-finish) a 2-day behemoth of an effort from just one guy, yeah...it's pretty damned good. (That's right, I said "damned".)
But, at the end of the day, the Hamburglar and a "Goosebumps" tale just don't do it for me. So, I'm waiting out the rest of the arc.
But, I am thankful to have an on-time post to see every morning. And, for that, I've been holding my tongue to temper my more insipid, knee-jerk remarks. Though, the "on-time" part is really throwing off my schedule.
On a side note, I'm curious to know if Scott is still drawing (amidst the travel, the Harvey's, the BCC, and all). Or is he letting his marathon buffer carry him until he can get home and take a load off. Either way, if it helps to keep him safe from the flu, I'd call it a success.
Chris, I think it's awesome that people are contributing more positive feedback to PVPMMS I & II over the last year. And, I (for one) am happy to see people like you holding up that end of the near endless debates that pop up, without the tiresome flaming. So please, be more forthcoming in your opinions. As I look forward to coming here (probably) more than I do PVP itself.
We have to remember, Jai and R.W. are "carrying the torch" of PVPMMS. But it was never really their job to do it. They both did their best to give us wayward webcomic junkies a new home. So a well thought out comment is pretty valuable around here. Who knows, it may even get promoted to a coveted "Post" status.
Oh, and a special thanks to Fake Scott McCloud, for fathering this monster. And, to Brett Schiller (Sage) for teaching it how to walk. (pouring some out for da homies)
ReplyDelete(...getting all weepy...)
Yeah, I live...but I concur that there is very little to discuss about this past weeks strips. I'm not going to keep raving about the new art. We had that honeymoon, now I am going to assume Kurtz will bring his A-Game artwork to the table regularly.
ReplyDeleteThe story did absolutely nothing for me...but I didn't dislike it either, and as it was not a part of the 'greater PvP arc' I can't really analyze it.
I might put a post up tomorrow if Jai doesn't have any special insight.
And yes, well thought out criticism absolutely has a chance to make 'full post' status...and I'll even split the proceeds with the author 50/50! ;)
I do have something!
ReplyDeleteBut, in the meantime, David McGuire over at GastroPhobia had something to say on the issue of well-respected cartoonists who trace things instead of drawing their own creations, which -- hopefully -- is a relevant-to-PVP topic that we all still remember.
I guess that's the difference between purchasing licensing rights and commissioning art.
ReplyDeleteUninvited Geist -
ReplyDeleteI like the concept of this strip. I could see a spin-off concept from this strip alone, with a concept of,"What if everyone could be a medium, stuck with a famous ghost?" Or, maybe a Sunday extra. One most of us can enjoy.
The last two panels where Cole seems envious of the guy with Stanley Kubrick made me smile. Who is that guy supposed to be, anyway?
I gotta say, the ridiculous width of Cole's tie kinda jars with the more realistically drawn characters...
ReplyDeleteIt doubles as his lobster bib...
ReplyDeleteSomething strange is happening. There's no post first thing this morning.
SNAFU.
Oh...my...smurf!!
ReplyDeleteHow the smurf am I supposed to smurfin' smurf a smurfing card written in smurfing burglish?!!
BTW, have any of you tried this site? http://websmurfer.devnull.net/
Once you use it to go to a URL, every site you click on gets translated. It's cool to try just once. (I usually run a virus scan afterwards, just in case. [i.e. - shower afterwards] But, I haven't had any problems.)